Choosing the Right Club

26/3/2017

Lisa Shine, Olwyn Dunne, James Cottle, Grainne Regan, Emily Feighan, Neil Brown, Rob Cross, Emer Kenny, Don Anderton and Geraldine Clements

The big decision this weekend for those of us wanting to run in quality races was which race to do. We had a choice of either the BHAA K Club 10K on Saturday morning or the Dunboyne 4 mile race organized by Dunboyne AC on the Sunday afternoon. Both are considered quality races with good pedigrees and are both regarded as PB potential, being held on fast and relatively flat courses. In Rob Cross’ case, he chose to run both, winning one outright and taking first place in his age category with a top 10 finish and PB in the other.

The BHAA-organised K Club 10K attracted a huge field of nearly 430 finishers on a sunny Saturday morning. Recent challenges with a temperamental timing system were temporarily solved by having Myrunresults provide the chip-timing support and everything seemed to go off without a hitch. The after-race spread was, as always, magnificent, with a mixture of doughnuts, hot cross buns and pastries as well as sausages in baps, pasta and fruit on offer. The event didn’t disappoint on the PB front either.

The race (which was accurately measured) involved a straightish run of about a mile to and from a two mile loop which was run twice. Because of the position of the start and finish this year, there was a little detour early on to ensure the correct distance was achieved. The race started off at a frenetic pace, with Rob Cross and Ciaran Diviney in the leading pack of more than 10 runners. As the race unfolded, the pack split and by the time the loop had been circled twice Rob emerged as the leader with only one other runner on his shoulder whom he managed to hold off to the end, winning by about 50m or so at the finish. Rob’s winning time was 32:41. Ciaran came home in 8th place, finishing in a PB time of 33:41 and, although Rob is in the same age category but had won the race, Ciaran took home the prize for winning that category. Ger Forde was next, with a huge 45 seconds PB improvement, placing 30th in 35:13 and not far behind came Frank Halligan, also with a PB time of 35:23 (33rd) and another top 50 position went to Michael O’Conor (36th in 35:30). In the top 100 came Karl Walsh (51st in 36:46), John McAuley, returning from injury (59th in 37:28), Joe Walsh, with his 2nd PB in seven days (68th in a PB time of 37:48) and Eddie Nugent, also with a PB time of 37:49 (70th). Among the remaining male runners (we had at least 18 Cru in the race) there were PBs for Brendan Glynn (243rd in 45:41) and Paul Kelly, who broke 60 mins for the first time (355th in 53:28).

We had 3 Crusader women among 134 in the race, coming home behind women’s race winner Laura Shaughnessy with her second victory inside a week (she was the outright winner last Sunday of the Craughwell 10 mile race in Co. Galway). Dee Ni Chearbhaill was our first runner home (187th overall, 19th female, in what she describes as a post-pregnancy PB of 43:07). Dee was followed by Gill Earley (226th overall, 30th female, in 44:41) and Fiona Bane (283rd overall, 53rd female, in 47:28).

On Sunday, on a sunny but not too warm afternoon, 10 of us headed to Dunboyne, for the 48th running of a super 4 mile race on a largely flat course (perhaps with a bit of a drag in the first mile, but nothing serious at all) and the only variable being the cool easterly wind which was quite strong in places, particularly along a major open road between miles 1 and 2. Interestingly, because the road between those points was so wide and although it had been closed to traffic, practically no one, except for a few of us in Crusaders, took the racing line, and instead dutifully stuck to the left hand carriageway. Quite strange! The race attracted a field of nearly 640 runners, all with hopes of PBs. In the event, 6 of our 10 runners came home with PB performances, a measure of the quality of the course. The overall race was won by Mick Clohisey, training for the London marathon, who apparently enjoyed a ding-dong battle throughout with Brian Maher, whom he beat by 9 seconds in the end. His trophy for his exploit weighed nearly as much as he does, and was certainly almost as big! The women’s race was won by Ciara Durkan from Catherina McKiernan and Kate O’Neill. Our contingent was led home, naturally, by Rob Cross who placed 8th in the race, winning his age category, in a super PB time of 20:33. James Cottle came next, also an age category winner and only about 20 seconds off a 2012 PB in 76th spot and a time of 24:52. James was using the race as preparation for the Milan marathon next weekend and took some confidence from a steady run. Grainne Regan followed with an excellent PB of 26:04, holding on to a more than decent time after starting out rather fast. Grainne placed 106th overall (21st woman) and led the Cru women’s team home. Lisa Shine was next, in a PB time of 27:26 (141st overall, 31st woman), followed by Emily Feighan, also with a PB time of 28:03 (156th overall, 37th woman). Geraldine Clements was our third scorer not too far behind, placing 170th overall (41st woman) in a time of 28:27 and our fourth was Olwyn Dunne who placed 182nd (47th woman) in a PB time of 28:41 and 3rd in her age category. The women’s team placed 6th overall among the club teams, with only 15 points separating 3rd from 6th place! Neil Brown was next in 233rd place (29:59) and Neil was followed by Mairin Shine (435th overall, 173rd woman) in a PB time of 35:45 and 4th in her age category. Completing the contingent was Paul Kelly, in his second race of the weekend (492nd in 37:20). The 4 men in the party came home in 9th place in the club competition. Also, mention should be made of the great Cru support out there as usual. Finally, the townsfolk of Dunboyne clearly made sure that they were not to be outdone by the K Club and produced a terrific spread for after the race.

There were three results from last weekend which escaped our attention and which are now recorded. Federico Corradini, who is preparing for the Milan marathon next week, ran in the Milan half marathon alongside nearly 6,400 other runners in extremely warm conditions (exacerbated by a late morning start). Still Federico managed to take 138th place in a super time of 1:20:43. This will have given him much confidence for the marathon where he will run along with 8 other Crusaders. Joe Walsh and his wife Alma Hanevy of Donore Harriers decided to celebrate their first anniversary a month early (because of the London marathon for Joe) and return to the city where they were married last year. In cold but really ideal temperatures, they took on the New York Half marathon which enjoyed a field of more than 19,000 runners. Both marked the event with PBs, Joe coming in with a 4 second improvement to 1:22:13 (and 338th place), whilst Alma broke 1:30 for the first time, coming home in 728th place in a time of 1:27:53. Finally, Eoghan Kerins found time in Hawaii to run in the Big Island marathon around Hilo. On a course which involved quite a hilly first half, Eoghan finished in a time of 3:46:36.

Perhaps, because of the unexpected and welcome sunshine of Saturday morning numbers were up generally in the parkruns. Among the 525 runners in Marlay we saw Alex Romano come home in 9th place in 18:07, followed by Killian Barry in 18th with a time of 19:14. Colm foley joined more than 220 runners in Griffeen Park in Lucan, taking 52nd spot in 23:35. Meawhile, in St Anne’s, Matt Cranley was placed 23rd in 20:02 and Colm Kernan, 66th, in 22:47. The field measured nearly 350. In Victoria Park in Glasgow Aidan Hudner placed 68th out of nearly 340 runners in a time of 21:16. Natasha Murray took on Tymon with nearly 120 other participants. Natasha placed 114th overall (50th female) in 37:45. In Shanganagh Gary Park continues to make his comeback, taking 12th place in a field of 155 and a time of 20:18. Neil Brown also took part, coming home in 71st place in 26:19. Mairead Cashman continues to favour Bushy Dublin, placing 83rd overall (31st female) among a field of 125 runners in a time of 29:06.Fiona Shine took advantage of a trip to the UK to run in Eastbourne, placing 44th overall (8th female) in a field of 314 runners and a time of 22:38. Finally, Cabinteely celebrated its second anniversary and Olwyn Dunne managed to get good Cru representation. Niall O’Connell did well to place 2nd in a field of 143 and a time of 19:34. Nina Holmes was also a second placed finisher in the women’s field, placing 14th overall in a time of 22:19. Mairin Shine, Orlaith de Burca and lisa Shine more or less came home together in 40th to 42nd women’s places (104th to 106th overall) and times one second apart from 32:16 to 32:18. Leo Lundy had the weekend off from ultra-running so he helped out by fulfilling the role of “lanterne rouge” (in Tour de France terms) and backmarker in the field.

Also on Sunday (earlier in the day), we had at least one runner in the Port Tunnel run, missing out on the vitamin D! The race is a 10K through both bores of the tunnel, each of which is just under 5k in length. It’s quite a hilly course (as well as being slightly claustrophic and hot even in the winter months) as some may not realise that each bore of the tunnel falls in the middle and rises at each end. Our intrepid sole representative (perhaps there were more, it’s difficult to tell) was Emma O’Mahony who completed the event, along with nearly 1,700 other runners, in a time of 49:32 (371st overall and 36th female finisher).

BHAA K Club 10K
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Rob Cross 1 00:32:41
24 Laura Shaughnessy 1 00:34:28
Crusaders AC runners
1 Rob Cross 00:32:41
8 Ciaran Diviney 00:33:41 (PB)
30 Ger Forde 00:35:13 (PB)
33 Frank Halligan 00:35:23 (PB)
36 Michael O’Conor 00:35:30
51 Karl Walsh 00:36:46
59 John McAuley 00:37:28
68 Joe Walsh 00:37:48 (PB)
70 Eddie Nugent 00:37:49 (PB)
130 Tom Dunne 00:40:48
143 Phelim Murray 00:41:20
187 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:43:07 (19)
198 Robbie Moore 00:43:30
213 Tony Hackett 00:43:58
226 Gillian Earley 00:44:41 (30)
243 Brendan Glynn 00:45:41 (PB)
283 Fiona Bane 00:47:28 (53)
355 Paul Kelly 00:53:28 (PB)
Full results here: http://www.myrunresults.com/events/bhaa_k-club_10k_road_race_2017/2123/results
Eirgrid Dunboyne 4 mile race
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mick Clohisey 1 00:18:46
27 Ciara Durkan 1 00:22:06
Crusaders AC runners
8 Rob Cross 00:20:33 (PB)
76 James Cottle 00:24:52
106 Grainne Regan 00:26:04 (PB) (21)
141 Lisa Shine 00:27:26 (PB) (31)
156 Emily Feighan 00:28:03 (PB) (37)
170 Geraldine Clements 00:28:27 (41)
182 Olwyn Dunne 00:28:41 (PB) (47)
233 Neil Brown 00:29:59
435 Mairin Shine 00:35:45 (PB) (173)
492 Paul Kelly 00:37:20
Full results here: http://www.myrunresults.com/events/dunboyne_ac_4_mile_/1988/results
Port Tunnel Run
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Declan Power 1 00:33:09
61 Anne Marie Kenny 1 00:41:47
Crusaders AC runner
371 Emma O’Mahony 00:49:32 (36)
Full results here: http://www.sportsplits.com/Home/Results
Griffeen Parkrun #197
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Brian McMahon 1 00:15:43
31 Ana Barbu 1 00:22:19
Crusaders AC runner
52 Colm Foley 00:23:35
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/griffeen/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=197
Marlay Parkrun #202
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 James Kelly 1 00:0017:08
14 Derval Devaney 1 00:19:01
Crusaders AC runners
9 Alex Romano 00:18:07
18 Killian Barry 00:19:14
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=202
Cabinteely Parkrun #104
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mick Hanney 1 00:19:29
10 Joanne Ryan 1 00:21:51
Crusaders AC runners
2 Niall O’Connell 00:19:34
14 Nina Holmes 00:22:19 (2)
104 Mairin Shine 00:32:16 (40)
105 Orlaith de Burca 00:32:17 (41)
106 Lisa Shine 00:32:18 (42)
143 Leo Lundy 00:50:47
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=104
St Anne’s Parkrun #176
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Emmet O’Briain 1 00:16:34
27 Elaine McNulty 1 00:20:41
Crusaders AC runners
23 Matt Cranley 00:20:02
66 Colm Kernan 00:22:47
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=176
Shanganagh Parkrun #105
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Michael Nalty 1 00:18:07
19 Georgina Devlin 1 00:20:56
Crusaders AC runners
12 Gary Park 00:20:18
71 Neil Brown 00:26:19
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=105
Bushy Dublin Parkrun #5
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Niall Coppinger 1 00:18:21
4 Maura Kearns 1 00:20:03
Crusaders AC runner
83 Mairead Cashman 00:29:06 (31)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=5
Tymon Parkrun #144
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Shane Carton 1 00:17:47
9 Sharon Tighe 1 00:21:07
Crusaders AC runner
114 Natasha Murray 00:37:45 (50)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/Tymon/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=144